WHITWELL ON THE HILL:

Whitwell, now distinguished as Whitwell-on-the-Hill, derives its name from the spring of clear, sparkling water, which still flows in the locality. It was formerly a township under Crambe, but was constituted as a distinct parish after the erection of the church, in 1860. It sits in the Wapentake of Bulmer. (A Wapentake being an Old English sub-division of certain northern and midland English counties, equivalent to a ?hundred? as found in other parts of the country. (Old English waepen taec from Old Norse  vapn ?weapon? + tak ? taking?, probably with reference to voting in assembly by a show of weapons).

The Manor of Whitwell, consisting of some 600 acres, was mentioned in the Domesday period as granted to a Count, Robert Waltheof. It appears the Edward the Confessor granted the Manor subsequently to a Walter L?Espec who, in 1122, gave it to the Priory of Kirkham which he founded on its current site ( see under Kirkham below).

GAP IN HISTORY THAT NEEDS RESEARCHING  -  ANY VOLUNTEERS ?

(We presume that the Church held the Manor and its lands until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII and that it then passed into private ownership as a result of a royal grant which happened to so many of the confiscated properties of the Roman Catholic establishment.  However, we have yet to validate all events between 1120 and 1830.)

Until the building of the present dual ? carriageway, the main road from York to Scarborough ran through the village on the west side of the church and there was an alehouse on the site of the present Manor House. The population of the village was 200 in 1803. Whitwell Estate was purchased from the Graham family in 1830, for 95,000 guineas, by Joseph Haigh, Esq., who built the hall shortly after, at a cost of £30,000. Louisa Rosamond, the surviving child and heiress of this gentleman, married Sir E. A. H. Lechmere, Bart., whose ancestors were settled in Worcestershire, soon after the Conquest.

In 1845, a private chapel was fitted up in Whitwell Hall by Mr Arthur Stephens. Before that the parishioners either walked down to Crambe and back again or before the completion of the St John the Evangelist church, services were held in the Coach House of Whitwell Hall.

In 1860, the church of St. John the Evangelist was built of Whitby stone at the sole expense of Lady Lechmere. The design is Gothic, and includes nave, chancel, vestry, and tower, surmounted by a spire. In the tower are six sweet-toned bells. The floor and the lower part of the walls up to the string course are laid with encaustic tiles of a very neat pattern. The interior is finished in very elegant style, and fitted with open benches of oak. The west window is large and handsome, bearing in its four lights the figures of the four Evangelists. Above this is a large circular one filled with geometrical tracery. The chancel is also lighted by stained glass windows. The reredos and pulpit are of white stone, beautifully carved and ornamented with coloured marbles. It was formally dedicated by the Archbishop of York. The large and trimly-kept burial ground is entered by an oaken lych gate, with red tiled roof.

The Vicarage, worth a stipend of £184, in the gift of Sir E. A. H. Lechmere, Bart., is now Whitwell House. A mixed National school was erected in 1874, for 65 children with an average attendance of 45 children ( ie those who could be spared by their families from manual labour on the local farms and businesses).  The building still stands and is a private residence.

The Hall was bought by Edward Brotherton in 1919 along with the surrounding estate.  During the 1939-45 was the Hall was used by the Army with troops billeted in Nissen huts in the grounds. Mr Raymon Burton bought the Hall in 1926 and fifty years later it was bought by Peter Milner and turned into a country house Hotel, with 23 bedrooms and a staff of 25, many of whom lived in the village. Brideshead Revisited was filmed at Castle Howard in 1979 and many of the stars, including Anthony Andrews, stayed at Whitwell Hall.

Crambe

CRAMBE, a parish in the wapentake of Bulmer; 6 miles SW. of Malton. It has a  church dedicated to St. Michael.  IN 1820 it also had a pub called the  SPITTLE BRIDGE INN, which also formed a posting station,  kept by a Mrs. Ann Wilkinson. Its population was 152.

History of the name Crambe

In the 11th Century the parish of Crambe was known as Crambun.
In the 13th Century it was Gramum or Cramburn.
In the 17th Century it became Crampholme or Crawme.

Today, the pronunciation is still Crawme or Crarme despite the change of spelling to Crambe.

The name Crambe refers to a bend in the river, and the village sits on a rise in a bend of the River Derwent.