A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



son of Ralph de Araundeville, one of his special friends, 

 and given to Merton College, Oxford, which he 

 founded."^ The college possesses deeds relating to the 

 place from 1 200 onwards and court rolls of the manor 



Merton College, 

 Oxford. Or three 

 cbeveron! parly and 

 counter-coloured azure 

 and gules. 



De la Pole. Azure 

 a fesse between three 

 leopards' beads or. 



from 1290 to 1396, but the customs of the manor 

 have not been kept up.'^ William de Hamsterley, who 

 granted certain lands to John his son, released part at 

 least of his holding to the college in i 290.'^ In 1634 

 Charles I granted a confirmation of the manor to the 

 warden and scholars of Merton,'^ and the college 

 retains the estate in Stillington. 



In I 366 William de la Pole was found to have held 

 5 acres of meadow here of the Master of Merton by 

 rendering a rose yearly.'"' The Lmd descended with 

 the manor of Bradbury to William Earl and afterwards 

 Duke of Suffolk, the ' manor ' of Stillington being 

 included in feoffments of his lands in 1430'' and 

 143 1.'* Roger Thornton held both it 

 and Bradbury on his death in March 

 1470-1,"^ but its later history has not 

 been traced. 



Robert Morpeth of Stillington, who 

 died in 1623, had 7 acres of meadow 

 called Ellerbriggs Close and 7 acres of 

 pasture called Wh)nndy Close in Elstob.**" 

 His son Christopher, a benefactor to the 

 parish, died early in 1 640-1 holding 

 lands in Stillington, Elstob and Bishop 



lands by the Parliament at the same time as his 

 neighbour Richard Morpeth ^' ; he held the manor 

 on lease from Merton College. He died in 1644, and 

 his widow Dorothy, being a recusant, had two-thirds 

 of her estate sequestered on that account, the other 

 third being allowed her in 165 I. The college, how- 

 ever, said that the lease had expired, and put a new 

 tenant in.*" 



The freeholders in 1684 were Sir Ralph Jennison of 

 Elwick, George Robinson and George Todd.*" Eliza- 

 beth Todd, as a ' Papist,' registered her leasehold at 

 Stillington in 1717 ; the value was ^^23 15/.** 



The church o{ ST. CUTHBERT con- 

 CHURCH sists of chancel 19 ft. 9 in. by 13 ft., 

 nave 40 ft. by 18 ft. 6 in., south chapel 

 22 ft. by II ft., south porch 9 ft. 11 in. by 6 ft. 

 10 in., and west tower 9 ft. square ; all these 

 measurements are internal. 



Of the original 12th-century church the nave and 

 tower remain, but the chancel was rebuilt in its 

 present form in the latter part of the I 3th century. 

 The south chapel, representing the chantry of 

 St. Mary, and later known as the Claxton porch, is 

 an addition of the 15th century. In subsequent and 

 modern times a good many changes and alterations have 

 taken place in the fabric, but except for the addition 

 of the south porch in the angle of the nave and chapel 

 and a small vestry on the south side of the chancel, 

 the plan has remained unaltered. The porch is of 

 late but uncertain date, and its outer doorway is com- 

 posed of the 1 2th-century entrance moved forward 

 from its original position. In 1806 the roofs were 



ton.*' Richard Morpeth, his son and 



heir, was a Royalist in the Civil War 

 time, and his estate was therefore seques- 

 tered in 1644 ; he had left his house and 

 gone into Cumberland to assist the king's 

 forces. Part of his land in Stillington 

 was held in fee and part on lease from 

 Merton College. He compounded in 1646 by a fine 

 of j^ 1 00.*- His son Robert in 1676 sold his lands to 

 John Spearman.**^ 



The will of John Hartburn of Stillington, 1560, 

 has been printed.*'' Captain Richard Hartburn, a 

 delinquent and Papist, suffered sequestration of his 



12™ Cent. 



13a Cent. 



^ 151!! Cent 



E3 Later t Modern 

 10 



Scale of Feet 



Plan of Redmarshall Church 



removed and the windows altered, and in 1845—6*' 

 a further restoration was carried out, when the sash 

 windows which then existed were replaced by stone 

 and the small vestry or entrance porch on the south 

 side of the chancel added in front of the priest's door- 

 way, the ancient stonework of which was moved 



'^ Merton College Deeds, 2308. 



'^ Inform, from Mr, W. Eason, senior 

 bursar of the college. 



'* Merton College Deeds, 2315, 2318, 

 2326. 



" Pat. 9 Chas. I, pt. T, no. 23. 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 2, fol. 

 77 d. 



" Harl. Chart. 43, E 19. 



'8 Ibid. 45, I 12. 



"Dur. Rec. cl. 3, no. 4, fol. 35. 

 Roger's heir was his daughter Elizabeth, 

 wife of George Lumley. 



^ Ibid, file 189, no. 90. These lands 

 were held by knight service, 



8' Ibid. ; ffilU in the York Registry, 

 i636-52(Yorks. Arch. Soc), 86 ; Surtees, 

 op. cit. iii, 74 ; pedigree. 



'" Ric. Com. for Comp. (Surt. Soc.), 296, 



*' Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 11 8, no. 9, 16. 



** Dur. frills and Invent. (Surt. Soc), 

 i, 186. 



«* Ibid. 15, 25. 



** Ibid. 234 ; some field namea are 

 given, including Latimore flat. 



**' Surtees, op. cit, iii, 74. 



** Estcourt and Payne, £ng/. Calk. 

 Nonjurors, 53. 



*^ The whole cost of the 1 8415-6 altera- 

 tions was borne by the Rev. T. Austin, 

 rector, the work being carried out under 

 the direction of his son, Mr. F. Austin of 

 Newcastle, who was also the architect of 

 the new rectory. The rectory is a brick 

 building and stands immediately to the 

 east of the church (Fordyce, Hist, and 

 Antiq. of CO. Palat. of Dur. ii, 230). The 

 restorations of 1893 were carried out by 

 the Rev, C, E. Richardson, then rector. 



318 



