Whitby Strand

File:Milepost at Hawsker.jpg

At the time of the Norman Conquest, the land that would form the division of Whitby Strand wapentake, belonged to Gospatric, who fled to Scotland, and the confiscated land was given to Hugh Lopas. Lopas disliked the area, so gave it to his friend, William de Percy.{{cite book |last1=Atkinson |first1=J. C. |title=Memorials of old Whitby; or, Historical gleanings from ancient Whitby records |date=1894 |publisher=MacMillan & Co |location=London |page=x|oclc=644291}} William de Percy died in {{circa|1096}} and the granting of the land was confirmed by his son, Alan de Percy (who died {{circa|1135}}).{{cite book |last1=Holt |first1=Robert Burbank |title=Whitby, past and present |date=1890 |publisher=Copas |location=London |page=21|oclc= 42892666}} Ownership of the region is disputed around that time, as Young states the area belonged to Siward, and that it was divided between the Langbaurgh and Pickering Lythe wapentakes, (to the north and south respectively) as the wapentake did not exist at the time of the Domesday survey.{{sfn|Young|1817|p=77}}{{#tag:ref|Most of the settlements in Whitby Strand at the time of the Domesday survey were included in the Langeberge (Langbaurgh) Wapentake.{{cite book |editor1-last=Darby |editor1-first=H. C. |editor2-last=Maxwell |editor2-first=I. S. |title=The Domesday geography of Northern England |date=1962 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |page=105|oclc=463189960}}|name=Wapentake|group=note}} Whitby Strand as a name for the area was not recorded until 1316, and the liberty was composed of four distinct regions: Whitby, Sneaton, The Chapelry of Fylingdales, and Hackness.{{sfn|Page|1968|p=502}} The title of the liberty and wapentake derives from the Scandinavian name for Whitby – Streonshalh.{{#tag:ref|Various spellings exist; Streonaeshalch, Streonshall, and Streonshale.{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Ian |title=Secret Whitby |date=2016 |publisher=Amberley Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=978-1-4456-5251-1 |page=9}}|name=|group=note}} Historians disagree on the etymology of Streonshalh, though all agree on the language it derives from. One version is that the name translates as Strandshall, the Tower on the Strand (possibly a reference to an early lighthouse).{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=John |title=Rivers, mountains, and seacoast of Yorkshire |date=1853 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |page=140|oclc=704146364}}{{cite book |last1=Waters |first1=Colin |title=A history of Whitby & its place names |date=2011 |publisher=Amberley |location=Stroud |isbn=978-1-4456-0429-9 |page=116}}

Not long after the Conquest, most of the land within the boundaries of what would become Whitby Strand was managed by those who ran the religious order at Whitby Abbey, however, after the Dissolution, a great portion of the land was purchased by Sir Richard Cholmley.{{sfn|Young|1840|p=39}}{{sfn|Binns|2000|p=2}} Prior to the Dissolution, much of the land was given over to agriculture, raising animals, and fishing, with the monks from the abbey working some of the land themselves.{{sfn|Young|1840|p=104}} The wapentake and liberty were referred to as Monastic in some documents,{{cite journal |last1=Cruickshank |first1=John L. |title=Sheriff's Tourns, Wapentakes and the Liberties of the West Riding |journal=Northern History |date=2 July 2020 |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=177–197 |doi=10.1080/0078172X.2020.1725329}} and the poll tax returns for 1379 list the settlements of the area as being within Whitby and Byland. All of the individual areas of the wapentake were later recognised as being one administrative area, including the small enclave around Byland Abbey.{{cite book |editor1-last=Fenwick |editor1-first=Carolyn C. |title=The poll taxes of 1377, 1379, and 1381 |date=2005 |publisher=Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-726336-4 |page=243}}{{#tag:ref|Besides those settlements in the immediate boundaries of Whitby Strand, the Byland recording of 1379 lists Middlesbrough and Newham, and Ampleforth.{{cite book |editor1-last=Fenwick |editor1-first=Carolyn C. |title=The poll taxes of 1377, 1379, and 1381 |date=2005 |publisher=Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-726336-4 |page=254}} |name=Byland|group=note}}

In the south of the wapentake, the boundary between Whitby Strand and Pickering Lythe was an ancient line known as Green Dike (or Greendike).{{sfn|Young|1840|page=262}}{{cite web |title=Parishes: Fylingdales {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol2/pp534-537 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk |access-date=24 July 2022}} This boundary proceeded southerly from near to Ravenscar, with the Green Dike encompassing Suffield in the south, and the source of the River Derwent via the Lilla Cross through Littlebeck on the western side. Then towards the north-west through Egton, and then due northwards through East Row (called Thordisa in ancient times) and out to the sea.{{sfn|Young|1817|pp=272–273}}{{#tag:ref|The boundaries of Whitby Strand were listed in 1135 as; Blawych Creek, (an inlet below Peak alum works at Ravenscar), Grenedic (Green Dike), Swinestichage, Thornelaye, Coppekeldebroc, Staincrossegate, Gretaheved, Lilla Cross, Scograineshoues, Sylehou, Lithebech, St Hilda's Spring, Horsecroft, and Thordisa (East Row).{{sfn|Page|1968|p=503}}{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Francis Kildale |title=A glossary of Yorkshire words and phrases, collected in Whitby and the neighbourhood |date=1855 |publisher=John Russell |location=London |page=140|oclc=1169927782}}|name=Wapentake boundaries|group=note}} The granting of rights over the wapentake included the sea to a depth of {{convert|14|fathom}} and also seaweed. There was a stipulation for fishing rights, including upstream of the River Esk to Ruswarp.{{sfn|Page|1968|pp=503–504}}

In 1831, the wapentake extended to {{convert|43,270|acre}}, and had a population of 13,966.{{sfn|White|1840|p=491}} Changes to the administrative area of the wapentake in the early 19th century meant that the parishes of Egton, Hinderwell and Lythe were added, with some land around Hackness given over to the Pickering Lythe Wapentake.{{sfn|White|1840|p=492}} By 1858, the Whitby Strand Wapentake covered some {{convert|93,060|acre}},{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=820}} and was one of thirteen wapentakes across the North Riding of Yorkshire.{{cite web |title=North Riding of Yorkshire :: Survey of English Place-Names |url=http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/North+Riding+of+Yorkshire |website=epns.nottingham.ac.uk |access-date=28 July 2022}} The wapentake/liberty extended for some {{convert|18|mi}} on a north–south axis, and was between {{convert|2–6|mi}} wide, varying in breadth. The section between Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay was bordered by the North Sea (then known as the German Ocean).{{sfn|White|1840|p=491}} By 1871, the wapentake's population was 17,541.{{cite book |last1=Baines |first1=Thomas |title=Yorkshire, past and present : a history and a description of the three ridings of the great County of York |date=1870 |publisher=MacKenzie |location=London |page=667|oclc=907849212}}

In terms of toponymy, very few Anglo-Saxon names have survived with the old boundary of Whitby Strand, most names associated with the wapentake are Scandinavian in origin.{{sfn|Smith|1979|page=xix}} In 1862, Whitby Strand was listed as having twenty townships and two parishes.{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Papers Poor Law Unions volume 49, part II |date=1862 |publisher=HMSO |location=London|page=201 |oclc= 145367615}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• Aislaby{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=821}}
• Briggswath{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=821}}
• Broxa{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=111}}
• Cayton (a detached part of Whitby Strand in the Borough of Scarborough){{sfn|Smith|1979|p=103}}
• Egton{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=825}}
• Egton Bridge{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=828}}
• Eskdaleside{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=119}}
• Fylingthorpe{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=117}}
• Grosmont{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=826}}
• Hackness{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=112}}
• Harwood Dale{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=113}}
• Hawsker-cum-Stainsacre (township){{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=822}}
• Iburndale
• Newholm-cum-Dunsley{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=823}}
• Normanby{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=117}}
• Row{{cite book |title=Parliamentary Papers Poor Law Unions volume 49, part II |date=1862 |publisher=HMSO |location=London|page=490 |oclc= 145367615}}{{#tag:ref|The name of the hamlet has changed since the cessation of the wapentake system. The settlement is now known as Raw.|name=Name of raw|group=note}}
• Ruswarp{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=824}}
• Robin Hood's Bay{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=118}}
• Silpho{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=115}}
• Sleights{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=821}}
• Sneaton{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=118}}
• Sneatonthorpe{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=119}}
• Suffield{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=115}}
• Ugglebarnby{{sfn|Whellan|1859|p=824}}
• Whitby{{sfn|Smith|1979|p=127}}

{{div col end}}

{{reflist|group="note"}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |editor1-last=Binns |editor1-first=Jack |title=The memoirs and memorials of Sir Hugh Cholmley of Whitby, 1600–1657 |date=2000 |publisher=Yorkshire Archaeological Society in association with the Boydell Press |location=Woodbridge |isbn=0-902122-83-5}}
• {{cite book |last1=Page |first1=William |title=The Victoria history of the county of York, North Riding volume 2 |date=1968 |publisher=Dawsons of Pall Mall for the University of London Institute of Historical Research |location=London |isbn=0712903100}}
• {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=A. H. |title=The Place Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire |date=1979|orig-date=1928|oclc= 19714705|publisher=English Place Name Society}}
• {{cite book|title=History and Topography of the City of York, and the North Riding of Yorkshire: embracing a general review of the early history of Great Britain, and a general history and description of the County of York, Volume 2 |last=Whellan|first=T.|publisher=John Green|location=Beverley|year=1859|oclc=74378767}}
• {{cite book |last1=White |first1=William |title=History, gazetteer and directory of the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire |date=1840 |publisher=Robert Leader |location=Sheffield|oclc= 1008476555 }}
• {{cite book|last=Young|first=George|title=A history of Whitby, and Streoneshalh abbey ; with a statistical survey of the vicinity to the distance of twenty-five miles|year=1817|publisher=Clark & Medd|location=Whitby|oclc=1046520071}}
• {{cite book|last=Young|first=George|title=A picture of Whitby and its environs|edition=2|year=1840|publisher=Horne & Richardson|location=Whitby|oclc=931179820}}

Category:Wapentakes of the North Riding of Yorkshire

Category:Whitby