Saxton with Scarthingwell

Saxton with Scarthingwell is a civil parish just south of Tadcaster in North Yorkshire, England. The parish contains the villages of Saxton and Scarthingwell, with two churches and the remains of a castle. Historically the area was a township, however it has been its own civil parish since 1866. Although the main part of the Battle of Towton was fought to the north out of the parish, some of the dead were interred in the parish, and at least one minor skirmish was fought within the parish boundaries.

Saxton with Scarthingwell
Civil parish
The crossroads in the middle of the parish with the main A162 road running from the distance into the foreground
Crossroads near Scarthingwell
Saxton with Scarthingwell is located in North Yorkshire
Saxton with Scarthingwell
Saxton with Scarthingwell
Location within North Yorkshire
Area5.9 sq mi (15 km2) (2011 Census)[1]
Population592 (2011 Census)[1]
• Density100/sq mi (39/km2)
OS grid referenceSE491371
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTADCASTER
Postcode districtLS24
Dialling code01937
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament

History

Saxton is mentioned in the Domesday Book as having a church, meadow and ploughlands, but Scarthingwell is not recorded as a name until 1202.[2][3][4] Land in the parish was granted to Margaret Kirkton by Alice de Lacy in the late 13th century.[5] The Church of St Mary in Lead was founded in 1292 by Roger de Saxton.[6] The church, now known as a chapel, still exists, and though at times Lead was within the parish of Saxton with Scarthingwell (having been transferred from Ryther), it is now in its own civil parish.[7]

The churchyard at Saxton contains at least one burial from the Battle of Towton who was interred after the battle – Randolph Dacre, who had been MP for Cumberland in 1442.[8] Dacre fought on the side of the Lancastrians.[9] Other bodies were interred at Saxton in 1745 (nearly 300 years later) when they were uncovered at the Towton battlefield site.[10] Before the Battle of Towton, the Yorkist side advanced towards Towton Dale from the south, moving through the Saxton parish.[11] In 2018, the boundaries of the battlefield were extended to also take in land within the Saxton parish. The site is recognised by Historic England as being of national importance.[12]

The parish is the site of the smaller conflict of the Battle of Dintingdale, a minor fight on the same day as the Battle of Towton. Lord Clifford, fighting for the Lancastrian side, was killed at Dintingdale. The Battles of Ferrybridge, Dintingdale and Towton, were all held on the same day, but because of the casualties at Towton, it eclipses the other two.[13][14] Historically, Towton was within the parish boundaries, and Saxton and Scarthingwell were a township in the parish.[15][16]

The A162 road cuts through the parish on a north/south axis and connects the parish with Tadcaster in the north 4 miles (6.4 km), and Sherburn-in-Elmet to the south.[17][18] Three bus routes totalling eight services per day connect the parish with Tadcaster and Sherburn.[19][20][21] The nearest railway station is Church Fenton, some 3 miles (5 km) to the east.[22]

Although now delisted from the main works, a section of the proposed HS2 railway line to York was projected to run through the far south-eastern corner of the parish.[23][24]

Saxton Castle

The village holds the site of Saxton Castle, an 11th-century motte and bailey design, which has been damaged by being built upon since its demise.[25]

Scarthingwell Hall

The hall was built in the 18th century for the Hawke family with landscaping following in the same century.[26][27][28] Later, in 1854, a private Chapel was erected by the lake which became the Church of the Immaculate Conception St John the Worker, a grade II listed building.[29] Scarthingwell Hall was demolished in 1960, and a care home was built upon the site in 2022.[30][31]

Governance

Historically, the parish was in the wapentake of Barkston Ash, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since 1974, the parish has been in North Yorkshire, and until April 2023, it was in the former Selby District.[32][33] The ancient parish of Saxton included the village of Towton and the land within what is now the civil parish of Lead. Saxton and Scarthingwell were classified as a township within the parish.[34][35] Since 1866, it has been established as its own civil parish.[36] In 1964, the parish covered an area of 1,101 hectares (4.25 sq mi),[37] which by the 2011 Census was 1,527 hectares (6 sq mi).[1] The area is represented at Parliament as part of the Selby and Ainsty Constituency.[38]

Population of Saxton with Scarthingwell 1801–2015[39][36][32][1][37][40]
1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1951 1961 1971 2001 2011 2015 2019
362 318 378 407 427 371 360 359 322 316 300 292 312 267 299 294 381 514[note 1] 592 550[note 2] 615[note 3]

Notable residents

Notes
  1. Estimated population.[40]
  2. Estimated population.[32]
  3. Estimated population.[40]

References
  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Saxton with Scarthingwell Parish (E04007764)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  2. Wheater 1882, p. 10.
  3. "Saxton | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  4. "Scarthingwell :: Survey of English Place-Names". epns.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  5. Bogg 1904, p. 179.
  6. Bogg 1904, p. 191.
  7. "Parish records of Saxton – Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  8. Lowther Bouch, J. (2017). "A note on the tombstone of Ranulph Lord de Dacre of Gillesland in Saxton churchyard, Yorkshire". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society. 16: 228. doi:10.5284/1063614.
  9. Cokayne, G.E.; Gibbs, Vicary & Doubleday, H.A., eds. (1916). The Complete Peerage. Vol. 4 (2 ed.). London: St. Catherine Press. p. 18. OCLC 61913642.
  10. "Blood Red Roses: The archaeology of a mass grave from the Battle of Towton AD 1461 Edited by Veronica Fiorato, Anthea Boylston and Christopher Knüsel". archaeologydataservice.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  11. Page, William, ed. (1907). The Victoria history of the county of York. vol 3. London: Constable & Co. p. 429. OCLC 500092527.
  12. Kitchen, Ruby (9 April 2018). "Why site of key battle is far more than a shrine to history". The Yorkshire Post. p. 3. ISSN 0963-1496.
  13. Sutherland, Tim (June 2009). "Killing Time: Challenging the Perceptions of Three Medieval Conflicts – Ferrybridge, Dintingdale, and Towton". Journal of Conflict Archaeology. Taylor & Francis. 5 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1163/157407709X12634580640173. ISSN 1574-0773. S2CID 159544440.
  14. Clifford, Arthur (1980) [1817]. Collectanea Cliffordiana. Skipton: Skipton Castle Publications. p. 73. ISBN 0950697508.
  15. Kelly's Directory of West Riding of Yorkshire, 1881. [Part 2: Places L-Y]. London: Kelly's. 1881. p. 992. OCLC 1131686669.
  16. "Sawbridgeworth – Saxton | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  17. "Genuki: SAXTON, Yorkshire (West Riding)". genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  18. Oxley, Chris (24 June 2023). "Ride like the wind.... but check it first". The Yorkshire Post. Country Week. p. 30. ISSN 0963-1496.
  19. "492 – Wetherby – Sherburn in Elmet". bustimes.org. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  20. "494 – Ulleskelf – Sherburn". bustimes.org. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  21. "495 – Tadcaster Bus Station – Selby Bus Station". bustimes.org. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  22. "Scarthingwell Crescent postcode in Saxton". postcodebyaddress.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  23. "High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester and West Midlands to Leeds) Working Draft Environmental Statement Volume 2: Community Area report" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. October 2018. p. 6. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  24. Topham, Gwyn (18 November 2021). "HS2 rail leg to Leeds scrapped, Grant Shapps confirms". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  25. Historic England. "Saxton Castle: a motte and bailey castle with a later medieval manor house and field system including a trackway and fishpond (1008226)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  26. "Scarthingwell Hall – Saxton". parksandgardens.org. January 1969. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  27. "Scarthingwell West Riding". visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  28. Bogg 1904, p. 210.
  29. Historic England. "The Church of the Immaculate Conception St John the Worker (Grade II) (1148447)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  30. "Scarthingwell Hall 1930". tadhistory.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  31. Wright, Greg (25 March 2022). "Work begins on £9m 66-bed luxury care home in picturesque North Yorkshire village". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  32. "2015 Population Estimates Parishes" (PDF). northyorks.gov.uk. December 2016. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  33. Cooper, Joe (23 March 2023). "Final farewell as Selby councillors hold last ever meeting". York Press. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  34. "Genuki: Saxton, Yorkshire (West Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  35. Sheahan, J. J.; Whellan, T. (1855). History and topography of the City of York: the Ainsty Wapentake and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Beverley: John Green. p. 680. OCLC 473523946.
  36. "Saxton With Scarthingwell Tn/CP". visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  37. Census 1971 England and Wales: report for the county of North Yorkshire as constituted on 1st April 1974 / Office of population censuses and surveys. London: HMSO. 1976. p. 5. ISBN 0-11-690454-2.
  38. "Election Maps". ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  39. Page, William, ed. (1907). The Victoria history of the county of York. vol 3. London: Constable & Co. p. 528. OCLC 500092527.
  40. "Parish population estimates for mid–2001 to mid–2019 based on best-fitting of output areas to parishes – Office for National Statistics" (Excel). ons.gov.uk. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  41. Courtney, W. M. P. (23 September 2004). "Crowe, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6827. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  42. Hellier, Rachel; Hutton, Barbara (1987). "A Model Farm at Scarthingwell near York in 1793 and in 1986". The Agricultural History Review. British Agricultural History Society. 35 (1): 72. ISSN 0002-1490.
  43. Lock, Alexander (23 September 2004). "Gascoigne, Sir Thomas, eighth baronet". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/105370. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Sources
  • Bogg, Edmund (1904). The old kingdom of Elmet, the land twixt Aire and Wharfe. York: Sampson. OCLC 1049966966.
  • Wheater, William (1882). The history of the parishes of Sherburn and Cawood, with notices of Wistow, Saxton, Towton, etc. London: Longmans Green & Co. OCLC 18942470.
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