Source: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/east/vol3/pp29-36
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 00:46:07+00:00

Document:
Much of the parish is flat and featureless, lying at between 25 ft. and 50 ft. above sea-level, and in places the riverside ings are lower still. Parts of the ridge on which the village stands, however, exceed 50 ft., and in the north the parish extends to the crest of the York moraine at 75 ft. to 100 ft. Apart from alluvium beside the river, glacial and outwash sand and gravel cover most of the parish, with a small area of boulder clay on the moraine. (fn. 9) The open fields lay mainly on the higher ground, and extensive common moors occupied the lower areas in the east and south of the parish, including part of the watery Tilmire which stretched into Heslington, Grimston, and Deighton. (fn. 10) Open fields and commons were inclosed in 1759.
Apart from the main York-Selby road there are few roads in Fulford which date from before the period of suburban development. From Gate Fulford village Heslington Lane leads eastwards to Heslington, and in Water Fulford another road branches from the Selby road towards Naburn. A road from York to Heslington (Heslington Road) crosses the northern tip of the ancient parish. Church Lane (now St. Oswald's Road) leads from the main road towards the river Ouse, ending near the old church of St. Oswald standing remote from the village. It is possible that the church marks an older site of the village before it was moved to the main road.
The houses of the village line the York-Selby road, their crofts and garths running back to two lanes, that on the east called Back, later School, Lane and that on the west known as Fenwick's Lane from the mid 19th century. (fn. 16) The main street includes a great variety of houses, from small 18thand 19th-century cottages to substantial farmhouses and elegant Georgian and Regency residences whose presence and style derive from the proximity of York. Among the larger 18th-century houses are the Old House, a three-storeyed brown-brick building, the White House, a stuccoed two-storeyed building with iron balconies to its first-floor windows, and Fulford House, which was acquired by William Richardson in 1751 and formerly belonged to a member of the Redman family. (fn. 17) It was enlarged in the mid and late 18th century, a water spout bearing the date 1785, and again after 1845, (fn. 18) when another William Richardson bought adjoining property to enlarge the site. (fn. 19) Fulford Park, a 19thcentury stuccoed villa, has a later stable block in a French Gothic style.
The two or three surviving houses in the hamlet of Water Fulford, besides the hall, (fn. 23) include Hall Farm, a long four-bay house of the 18th century.
South of Gate Fulford village, in the rural part of the parish, a new cemetery was opened in 1915 to serve the city in general as well as Fulford, and it has several times been enlarged. (fn. 44) Beyond the cemetery much private and council housing has been built, especially since the Second World War, including council estates in Fordlands Road (formerly Dam Lands Lane). Two new hospitals were opened next to Naburn Hospital in 1954, (fn. 45) and for a time Fulford golf course lay near by: it was opened in 1906 but moved to Heslington in 1936. (fn. 46) A York bypass was being constructed across the southern part of the parish in 1974.
The medieval manor-house was mentioned in 1343, (fn. 81) but the oldest part of the existing building is unlikely to be earlier than the 16th century. It was a timber-framed range of two storeys which is now completely enclosed by later work, and it probably does not represent the whole of the early house. It was extended to the south and east early in the 18th century and to the north in 1764. There were more additions on the north and east in 1851 (fn. 82) and at about this time bays were added to the south-west room. The house has recently been reduced by the removal of some of the 19th-century kitchen builddings, and it has been subdivided into two residences, but most of the 18th-century fittings survive together with a quantity of reset 17th-century panelling. In the grounds are a stable range and a large dovecot.
In 1086 Morcar's estate at Gate Fulford had land for 10 ploughs; there were then, in fact, 2 ploughs on the demesne and 2 held by 6 villeins. There were also 20 a. of meadow. The estate had decreased in value from £1 in 1066 to 16s. (fn. 117) Little is known of the process of reclamation in the Middle Ages or of the arrangement of the common fields and meadows. Much of the southern half of the township was waste or moor, stretching out to the area known as Tilmire. There is mention of 7½ a. in an assart there called the new ridding. (fn. 118) The citizens of York were entitled to common pasture in Tilmire, a right which they maintained after a dispute with St. Leonard's hospital in 1401 and which was included in an agreement made with St. Mary's abbey in 1484. (fn. 119) The moor also included a turbary: in 1375, for example, the abbey granted a right to take turf there. (fn. 120) The unlicensed digging of turves was presented in the abbey's manorial court in 1447, as well as fishing and fowling in Tilmire, which was described as the abbey's demesne fishery. (fn. 121) The agreement made between York and St. Mary's in 1484 also confirmed the citizens' rights of pasturage in part of the open fields and meadows of Gate Fulford. The arable land included, in the extreme north-east, Seward How field. Some land in the fields already belonged to York men, (fn. 122) and that continued to be the case in later centuries.
There were usually about ten farmers and marketgardeners in the whole parish in the 19th century, but the number later fell and there were four in the 1930s, only one of them having 150 a. or more. (fn. 135) Of the four farms on the Fulford Hall estate in 1964, one was of 209 a. and the others each about 130 a. (fn. 136) There were 468 a. under crops in 1801, (fn. 137) and in Water Fulford alone the tithable land in 1844 comprised 66 a. of arable and 192 a. of grassland. (fn. 138) In 1905 the parish included 721 a. of arable, 793 a. of permanent grass, and 48 a. of woods. (fn. 139) There has continued to be a substantial area under grass, especially near the Ouse and around Water Fulford. (fn. 140) The ings at Water Fulford were still in divided ownership in 1972 and more than a dozen boundary stones remained marking off the parcels.
For the manor of Gate Fulford there are transcripts of court rolls for several years between 1333 and 1400, (fn. 155) surviving rolls of 1447, 1483-4, and 1509, (fn. 156) extracts of rolls of 1637-43, (fn. 157) rolls of 1692-1703, together with several lists of pains, and a court book of 1771-1854, with some additional notes to 1877. (fn. 158) The records of St. Mary's abbey formerly included accounts of the steward of 'the manor of Sywardhow' for several years from 1327 to 1369, (fn. 159) but there is no other evidence that land in the north-east of Fulford comprised a separate manor.
All the courts were mainly concerned with domestic and agricultural business, but offences against the assize of ale were dealt with in the 15th century. A constable, 2 rent-collectors, 2 moorreeves, 2 bylawmen, and 2 aletasters were elected in 1447, and a constable, 2 moor-reeves, a house-reeve, a cottage-reeve, 4 bylawmen, 2 aletasters, and a man described as prepositus de manegreves in 1483. In the 1690s a constable, 4 bylawmen, and a pinder were elected, and in the late 18th and earlier 19th centuries a constable and a pinder: the latter was still sworn as late as 1877.
Surviving parochial records include churchwardens' accounts for 1821-98 and vestry minutes for 1827-37. The former record the levying of rates for the churchwardens and for the constable. The select vestry in 1829 withdrew from an agreement made in 1820 for the use by Fulford of the workhouse at Holme upon Spalding Moor. Fulford had several poorhouses and in 1835 the occupant of one of them also had 'the prison house'. (fn. 160) Fulford joined York poor-law union in 1837. (fn. 161) It became part of Escrick rural district in 1894, Derwent rural district in 1935, (fn. 162) and the Selby district of North Yorkshire in 1974.
The 'old' church of ST. OSWALD, in St. Oswald's Road, consists of chancel, nave, and west tower. It has been suggested that the nave was built c. 1150 and the chancel added c. 1180, the rubble masonry of the chancel being built up against the finer ashlar of the nave. (fn. 209) Two original windows survive in the north wall of the chancel and there is a plain 12th-century doorway in the nave. The chancel east window, of three lights, dates from the 14th century and two large square-headed windows in the nave south wall and a smaller one in the chancel south wall from the 17th. The north wall of the nave has been rebuilt without openings. The 'steeple' of the church was in decay in 1577 (fn. 210) and the surviving brick tower is thought to have been built c. 1795, (fn. 211) when a faculty was obtained to erect a vestry beside the belfry and to insert a west gallery. (fn. 212) A faculty of 1809 authorized new pews to be provided and a new pulpit erected, (fn. 213) and the plastered ceilings are of the same period, although the roofs may be earlier. The church was roofed with fishscale tiles c. 1870 (fn. 214) and there is a lych-gate dated 1890. There is one bell. (fn. 215) The interior has been partly stripped of its fittings.
A new church of ST. OSWALD was built on Fulford Road to replace the old one and was opened in 1866. It is of stone and consists of an aisled chancel, with north and south chapels, an aisled and clerestoried nave, transepts, and south-west tower, originally with a spire. The architect was J. P. Pritchett. (fn. 217) A vestry was added in 1875. (fn. 218) The church was burnt out in 1877 but restored and reopened early in 1878. (fn. 219) The unsafe spire was removed and the belfry stage of the tower rebuilt in 1924. (fn. 220) The 18th-century font was transferred from the old church.
Anne Richardson (d. 1848) left £100 to provide coal, (fn. 264) T. W. Wilson, by will of 1856, bequeathed £50 for coal, (fn. 265) and John Smith, by will proved in 1875, left £100 for the poor of the parish. (fn. 266) No more is known of Richardson's bequest.
1. See V.C.H. City of York, 16.
2. This article was written in 1972. Help given by Miss I. H. Briddon of Fulford and Mrs. J. M. Pickering of Bishopthorpe is gratefully acknowledged.
3. P.N.E.R. Yorks. (E.P.N.S.), 275; I. H. Briddon, Brief Hist. of Fulford, 3.
5. O.S. Map 6" (1893 edn.).
6. V.C.H. City of York, 321. Acreage calculated from O.S. Map 6" (1893, 1910 edns.).
7. Kelly's Dir. N. & E.R. Yorks. (1897), 462.
11. Roman York (Royal Comm. on Hist. Monuments), 1; Y.A.J. xlii. 4.
13. Cal. Papal Reg. xi. 129, 389.
14. O.S. Map 6", Yorks. (1853 edn.). The whole parish is covered by sheets 174 and 191.
15. V.C.H. City of York, 316; see below pp. 32-3.
18. Notes penes Mrs. B. Sandys-Renton, Fulford, 1972.
20. R.D.B., BP/585/974; EB/98/110; KL/277/371; York Courant, 19 Jan. 1742.
24. Y.A.S., DD. 88/8 (undated map, probably 1767).
25. E.R.R.O., QSF. Mich. 1745, B.1.
26. B.I.H.R., TER. A. Fulford 1743 etc.; V.C.H. City of York, 207, 245.
27. V.C.H. City of York, 541.
28. R.D.B., ER/245/258. It has been demolished.
30. R.D.B., FA/223/243; FB/113/129-30; FC/307/313. Illus. in P. Nuttgens, York, 59.
31. York City Archives, YL/D Acc. 46/56-7.
32. V.C.H. City of York, 466.
34. White, Dir. E. & N.R. Yorks. 328.
35. O.S. Map 6" (1853 edn.).
37. V.C.H. City of York, 477-8, 541-2.
38. O.S. Map 6" (1910 edn.).
39. V.C.H. City of York, 465, 470.
40. O.S. Map 6" (1958, 1970-1 edns.).
41. V.C.H. City of York, 445, 447, 542.
43. Ex inf. the matron, 1973.
44. V.C.H. City of York, 466-7.
46. Yorks. Gaz. 21 July, 22 Dec. 1933; ex inf. Fulford Golf Club, 1972.
47. E 179/202/58 mm. 4, 10.
49. Par. reg. 1700-1800 (in vestry).
50. B.I.H.R., Bp. V. 1764/Ret. 201; Herring's Visit. i. 195.
51. V.C.H. Yorks. iii. 498.
53. York Pub. Libr., Parson's map of Dringhouses (1629); par. reg. 1700-1800 (in vestry); V.C.H. Yorks. iii. 498.
54. V.C.H. Yorks. ii. 193.
55. E.Y.C. iv, p. 4.
56. Dugdale, Mon. iii. 572.
58. Yorks. Fines, 1614-25, 25.
59. C.P. 25(2)/614/1654 East. no. 11.
60. E 134/9 Geo. I Hil./25.
61. R.D.B., R/345/841; AS/405/675 ;Y.A.S., DD. 88/7/6.
62. R.D.B., AC/265/12; 30 Geo. II, c. 36 (Priv. Act).
66. Burke, Land. Gent. (1952), 1432.
68. Ibid. 1386/193/176; E.R.R.O., DDX/225/13.
69. V.C.H. Yorks. ii. 321.
71. E.Y.C. x, pp. 23, 25.
72. Yorks. Inq. ii, p. 34.
73. Cal. Inq. p.m. viii, p. 335; Feud. Aids, vi. 223.
74. Cal. Pat. 1461-7, 334, 467; 1467-77, 48; 1476-85, 13, 455.
75. Complete Peerage, xi. 253; Burke, Dorm. & Ext. Peerages (1883), 460.
77. Visit. Yorks. 1584-5 and 1612, ed. J. Foster, 99.
78. E 134/9 Geo. I Hil./25.
81. C 135/71 no. 18.
82. Dates on rainwater heads.
83. V.C.H. Yorks. ii. 241.
85. V.C.H. Yorks. ii. 321.
86. York Minster Fasti, i (Y.A.S. Rec. Ser. cxxiii), 60.
87. Miscellanea, iv (Y.A.S. Rec. Ser. xciv), 25.
92. Ibid. CY/426/622; B.I.H.R., Yarburgh MSS., Estate papers.
94. Cal. Pat. 1391-6, 599.
95. E 310/30/180 no. 22.
97. E.Y.C. i, p. 251.
98. E.R.R.O., DDKP/15/2; Cal. Pat. 1563-6, p. 11.
99. E. Y.C. x, p. 44.
101. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v. 8.
102. C 66/1985 m. 1.
103. B.I.H.R., CP. G. 3018, 3038, 3204-6; H. 822, 827, 911.
105. C 94/3 f. 76.
106. C.P. 43/341 rot. 152.
107. C.P. 25(2)/893/1 Wm. & Mary Mich. no. 37.
115. Lamb. Pal. Libr., COMM./XIIa/18/21.
117. V.C.H. Yorks. ii. 193, 241.
118. Y.A.S., DD. 88/1 (calendar of St. Mary's deeds, p. 1, n.d.).
119. V.C.H. City of York, 499.
120. Yorks. Deeds, ii, p. 218.
122. York City Arch., E/30 f. 74; V.C.H. City of York, 498-9.
127. R.D.B., AC/265/12. A working map and the final award map are in Y.A.S., DD. 88/8.
128. 30 Geo. II, c. 36 (Priv. Act).
130. C 135/71 no. 18 (partly illegible).
131. Belvoir Castle MSS., Roos 976, 990.
134. B.I.H.R., PR. Y/MG. 37.
140. [1st] Land Util. Surv. Map, sheet 27; 2nd Land Util. Surv. Map, sheet 699 (SE 64-74).
143. O.S. Map 6" (1853 edn.); Yorks. Gaz. 9 July 1853.
145. O.S. Map 6" (1853 edn.).
146. L. & P. Hen. VIII, xxi (1), p. 357.
147. E 310/32/190 no. 4.
148. Not in Heslington as on O.S. Map 6" (1853 and later edns.): see Y.A.J. xli. 584-7.
149. Deeds penes Mrs. B. Sandys-Renton, Fulford, 1972.
150. Yorks. Gaz. 7 May 1836.
153. T. Jefferys, Map of Yorks. Both mills are shown on J. Lund's map: York City Arch., D/Vv.
154. Baines, Hist. Yorks. ii. 209.
160. Par. rec. in Vicarage, 1972.
161. 3rd Rep. Poor Law Com. 171.
165. V.C.H. City of York, 397.
166. Cal. Papal. Reg. v. 2; xi. 129, 389.
167. Fabric Rolls of York Minster (Sur. Soc. xxxv), 237.
168. [T. Widdrington], Analecta Eboracensia, ed. C. Caine, 239-40; Y.A.J. xlii. 488.
169. Minster Libr., Torre MS., 'Cleveland & E.R.', p. 630.
171. B.I.H.R., TER. A. Fulford 1727; Bp. V. 1764/Ret. 201; V.C.H. City of York, 399.
172. Lawton, Rer. Eccl. Dioc. Ebor. i. 43; Rep. Com. Eccl. Revenues, 936.
173. Kelly's Dir. N. & E.R. Yorks. (1872), 367.
174. O.S. Map 6" (1853 edn.).
175. Minster Libr., Torre MS., 'Cleveland & E.R.', p. 628.
177. B.I.H.R., Reg. 31, f. 58.
178. Minster Libr., Torre MS., 'Cleveland & E.R.', p. 628.
179. B.I.H.R., PR. Y/MG. 37; CP. I. 467.
180. Ibid. PR. HES. 12.
181. V.C.H. City of York, 397-8.
182. Cal. Pat. 1557-8, 420.
184. Lond. Gaz. 12 Feb. 1892, p. 761.
185. C 94/3 f. 76.
186. B.I.H.R., TER. A. Fulford 1727 etc.
188. 12th Rep. Com. Char. 649.
189. Hodgson, Q.A.B. 211, 449.
190. B.I.H.R., TER. A. Fulford 1777, 1786, 1809, 1817.
191. Rep. Com. Eccl. Revenues, 936.
192. Lawton, Rer. Eccl. Dioc. Ebor. i. 43.
193. Ex inf. Miss Briddon.
194. B.I.H.R., Bp. V. 1884/Ret.; Bp. V. 1915/Ret.
196. Yorks. Gaz. 6 Mar. 1875.
197. Lond. Gaz. 14 Nov. 1873; 15 May 1874; 31 Mar. 1876.
198. R.D.B., 1201/437/393; Yorks. Eve. Press, 3 Nov. 1960.
199. B.I.H.R., Bp. V. 1764/Ret. 201; Herring's Visit. i. 195.
200. Rep. Com. Eccl. Revenues, 936.
201. B.I.H.R., V. 1865/Ret. 198; V. 1868/Ret. 180; V. 1871/Ret. 180; V. 1877/Ret.; Bp. V. 1884/Ret.; Bp. V. 1894/Ret.; Bp. V. 1900/Ret. 133; Crockford.
202. Herring's Visit. i. 195.
203. B.I.H.R., V. 1865/Ret. 198; V. 1868/Ret. 180; V. 1877/Ret.; Bp. V. 1884/Ret.
205. Yorks. Eve. Press, 1 Sept. 1966.
206. B.I.H.R., V. 1871/Ret. 180; Bp. V. 1884/Ret.; Bp. V. 1894/Ret.
207. Terrier and inventory, 1898 and 1925 (in vestry).
208. Ex inf. Miss Briddon.
209. Church of St. Oswald (guide bk. 1971).
210. B.I.H.R., V. 1577-8/CB. 1.
211. Ch. of St. Oswald.
212. B.I.H.R., Fac. Bk. iii, pp. 79-80.
214. Ch. of St. Oswald.
215. Boulter, 'Ch. Bells', 31.
216. Ch. of St. Oswald.
217. Illus. London News, 21 Nov. 1868; Yorks. Gaz. 29 Dec. 1866.
219. Ch. of St. Oswald; photographs in church.
220. B.I.H.R., Fac. 1923/41; Yorks. Gaz. 12 Jan. 1924.
221. Yorks. Ch. Plate, i. 252.
222. Boulter, 'Ch. Bells', 31.
224. Yorks. Gaz. 10 May 1902.
226. Briddon, Hist. Fulford, 36-7.
227. Yorks. Eve. Press, 25 Feb. 1960.
228. Aveling, Post Reformation Catholicism, 64.
229. Bodl. MS. Tanner 150, ff. 27 sqq.
230. Herring's Visit, i. 195.
231. G.R.O. Worship Returns, Vol. v, no. 110.
232. B.I.H.R., Fac. Bk. ii, p. 167.
233. W. Camidge, Methodism in Fulford, 3.
234. G.R.O. Worship Returns, Vol. v, nos. 1348, 1722, 2131, 2335, 3135, 3995, 4170; Camidge, op. cit. 4.
236. J. Lyth, Glimpses of Early Methodism in York and District, 288.
237. Camidge, op. cit. 13.
238. B.I.H.R., V. 1865/Ret. 198; V. 1868/Ret. 180.
239. Herring's Visit, i. 195.
240. 12th Rep. Com. Char. 648-9.
241. Educ. of Poor Digest, 1081; Ednc. Enquiry Abstract, 1085.
242. Inscribed stone from the house, now at the primary school.
244. Inscribed stone from the building, now at the primary school.
245. O.S. Map 6" (1853 edn.).
246. Ed. 49/8542; Elizabeth Ankers, 'Growth and Devt. of Fulford C. of E. Primary Sch. 1865-1930', TS. penes the headmaster, 1972, pp. 17-18, 20.
247. Returns relating to Elem. Educ. 792.
248. Rep. of Educ. Cttee. of Council, 1865-6 , p. 785, H.C. (1866), xxvii.
249. Charity board in old church; Ed. 49/8542.
250. Ankers, 'Growth and Devt.', p. 22.
251. Briddon, Hist. Fulford, 45.
253. E.R. Educ. Cttee. Mins. 1914-15, 154.
254. Bd. of Educ. List 21 (H.M.S.O.).
255. E.R. Educ. Cttee. Mins. 1930-1, 40.
257. Ankers, 'Growth and Devt.', pp. 52-3.
258. Ex inf. Chief Educ. Officer, County Hall, Beverley, 1972.
259. E.R. Educ. Cttee. Mins. 1963-4, 70; 1970-1, 35.
260. Ex inf. Chief Educ. Officer.
261. See p. 34 and above.
262. Herring's Visit, i. 195.
263. 12th Rep. Com. Char. 649-50; charity boards in old church.
264. Inscription in old church.
269. Ex inf. Mr. A. R. Tunnah, Haxby, York, 1974.

References: V. 
 v. 
 v. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V. 
 V.